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Inking
Ok, I was asked by many to put more "content" into my inking tutorial. When I first designed it, I had some more stuff on here and it got lost over the years, but I'll try my best to describe just what you need to do in order to get good inked drawings.
"Inkers" are the people in the comic book industry who ink in all the black areas in a comic. They use a variety of instruments to obtain those crystal clear images, so you might want to emulate them in getting these materials:
A dipping pen set with a variety of nibs.
Waterproof well ink.
.8 - .1 nib pens
Ruler
Bristol
Got all that? Ok then. I will employ the services of the Draw Comics the Marvel Way and How to Draw Superheroes and Villains books. Let's get started:
1. Determine where your light source is. The light source is the sun, a lamp, a candle, anything that reflects light on the figure. The side that has the light source shining directly on it will have the most highlights, and the side without the light will be the darkest.
2. Draw in the highlights with a pencil. You may or may not be able to see them on the second pic below, but they are there. When highlighting metal, you must realize that things will be reflected in it, but they will be distorted by the shape and grain of the metal. When drawing leather or vinyl, note that there are no reflections, but the highlights will follow the folds and shapes of the arms and legs.
3. Ink it in. I use felt nib pens because it's less messier, but if you feel confident enough to use them ol' fashioned quill like pens, by all means, go ahead. I use the bigger nibs for the thicker lines or the colored in spaces, and I use the thinner nibs for details and thinner lines. Please remember that even tiny things like buckles and bracelets reflect things too. Even hair reflects light.
Figures on paper are 2D, but we want them to appear 3D. Everything has a shape, and that manipulates the light shining on it in its own special way. If you want practice, I suggest that you draw, with plain pencil and paper, these things first:
A spoon
A doorknob
A knife or a pair of scissors
Something vinyl or leather
Be sure to draw in all the reflections, shapes. "Draw what you see".
Using a variety of lines, textures, and effects will enhance the drawing greately. See if you can't find use of lines, crosshatching, and pools of darkness that I used to make the figure come alive.
To see more of my drawings using ink pens, be sure to check out my Online Portfolio from time to time.
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